Virtual Reality Presentation of Layers of Clothing on Avatars

ABSTRACT

A computing system and method to generate an avatar wearing multiple layers of clothing. For each clothing model acquired for the avatar, the system generates a customized clothing model based on transforming the original clothing model for fitting on the avatar based on deforming and physical simulation and a reduced clothing model based on collapsing the customized clothing model on the body of the avatar such that applying the reduced clothing model is simplified as painting the texture of the reduced clothing model onto the avatar model. Wearing the inner layers of the clothing by avatar is computed by applying the texture of the corresponding reduced clothing model on the body of the avatar in a sequence from inside layers to outside layers. The customized clothing model of the outermost layer is combined with the avatar wearing the inner layers to generate the avatar wearing the multiple layers of clothing.

FIELD OF THE TECHNOLOGY

At least some technologies disclosed herein relate to computer graphicsprocessing and visual display in general and more specifically but notlimited to three-dimensional modeling in a virtual world.

BACKGROUND

Computer technologies have developed for the presentation ofthree-dimensional virtual worlds to users of computing devices.

For example, a virtual world can be hosted on a set of server computers(e.g., secondlife.com). Client programs or viewers can be installed onuser computers for connections to the server computers and for userparticipation in the virtual world. Users of a virtual world can bepresented as the residents of the virtual world in the form of avatars.The resident avatars can travel in the three-dimensional virtual world,explore the three-dimensional virtual world, meet other resident avatarsfor virtual social activities, and communicate with each other viavoice, instant messaging, text chart, local chat, and/or group chat. Theavatars may build, create, shop and trade virtual objects and serviceswith each other in the three-dimensional virtual world.

Avatars of a virtual world may take various forms, such as human,animal, vegetable, etc. In a virtual world, users may customize variousaspects of their avatars and may choose to resemble the users themselvesin appearance as they are in the real world. A user may have multipleavatars, but use only one avatar at a time for participation in thevirtual world.

In a virtual world, a user of a client program or viewer of the virtualworld can use conventional input devices to control the activities ofthe avatar that represents the user in the virtual world, such askeyboards and pointer control device (e.g., mouse, touch pad, trackball, joystick, and touch screen). The view of the virtual world ascurrently being seen by the avatar at its current position andorientation can be presented on a display device, such as a computermonitor, a display of a notebook computer, and a touch screen of amobile device.

A virtual world hosted on a computer system may have virtual items, suchas virtual currency, virtual clothing, and virtual artifacts. A user maypurchase or acquire virtual clothing for decoration of the avatar of theuser.

U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 2014/0022238, entitled “System for SimulatingUser Clothing on an Avatar” discloses a clothing simulation tool togenerate images of an avatar wearing a virtual clothing item that isselected by the user to simulate the user wearing the actual clothingitem, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Some software tools have been developed to provide realistic simulationof cloth, hair, foliage and other soft body objects. Havok Cloth offeredby www.havok.com is an example of such tools.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments are illustrated by way of example and not limitation inthe figures of the accompanying drawings in which like referencesindicate similar elements.

FIG. 1 shows a computer system in which techniques of the presentdisclosure can be used.

FIG. 2 shows the fitting of a piece of clothing on an avatar accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sequence of transformations to fit a piece ofclothing on an avatar in a virtual world.

FIG. 4 illustrates a method to presenting the fitting of multiple layersof virtual clothing on an avatar.

FIG. 5 shows a method to present clothing on an avatar.

FIG. 6 shows a data processing system on which the methods of thepresent disclosure can be implemented.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The following description and drawings are illustrative and are not tobe construed as limiting. Numerous specific details are described toprovide a thorough understanding. However, in certain instances, wellknown or conventional details are not described in order to avoidobscuring the description. References to one or an embodiment in thepresent disclosure are not necessarily references to the sameembodiment; and, such references mean at least one.

In a virtual world, different avatars may have various shapes and sizes.The size ratios of different body components of avatars may varysignificantly. In some instances, a system may allow a user to customizean avatar by changing the shapes and ratios of the body components ofone or more avatars of the user. As a result, a piece of virtualclothing optimized for one avatar may not fit well on another avatar.

The present disclosure provides techniques to transform a piece ofvirtual clothing for improved fitting on an avatar and/or allowefficient presentation of wearing multiple layers of virtual clothing onavatar.

For example, the shape of a piece of virtual clothing can be defined bya clothing mesh representing the surface(s) of the clothing; and a bodymesh can be used to define the body surface of an avatar. Due to thedimensional differences between the clothing mesh and the body mesh, thevirtual clothing may not fit outside the body surface of the avatar.

It is possible to stretch the clothing mesh to conform to the contour ofthe body surface of the avatar where the clothing is too small. However,the result of simply stretching the clothing wherever the clothing istoo small relative to the avatar body is typically not appealing.

One technique of the present disclosure to improve the result includesthe selectively stretching of the clothing in areas that need to followalong with the body, such as the ends of the sleeves, collar, and/orbottom of the virtual shirt. A mesh deformer is used to make those areasof the clothing mesh follow along with the body mesh. After the virtualclothing is selectively deformed according to the size, shape,characteristics of the avatar body, a cloth solver can be used toperform a physical simulation of the shrinking, expansion, draping,and/or folding of the pre-deformed clothing for fitting on the avatar.For example, an off-the-shelf cloth solver, such as Havok Cloth, can beused to perform the physical simulation. The physical simulation by thecloth solver determines the shape of the final clothing mesh as beingworn on the body of the avatar.

Optionally, the system provides a user interface that allows the usercustomization of the deforming of selected areas of the clothing forfitting and/or the user customization of the physical simulation of thefitting of the pre-deformed piece of clothing on the avatar. Thus, thecloth solver computes the user preferred fitting of the clothing on theavatar.

For example, the user interface may allow the user to select areas fordeforming, stretching, draping, folding, and/or shrinking. For example,the user may be provided with a brush tool to paint on mesh values ofdesired stiffness or looseness, for example, to control the transitionof stretching, deforming, draping, folding, and/or shrinking.

In general, when multiple layers of clothing are applied on an avatar,the process of detecting potential penetration of one layer of clothingthrough another layer of clothing (e.g., via ray-casting) can becomputationally intensive. The computational complexity increases whenthe number of layers increases. One technique of the present disclosureautomatically shrinks the inner layer of clothing onto the body surfaceof the avatar, as if the layer of clothing is painted on the bodysurface of the avatar so that another layer of clothing can be fitted onthe avatar based on the body shape of the avatar without the need toconsider the potential penetration between the layers of clothing. Suchan approach can generate appealing results with reduced computationburdens.

The combined the shape and appearance of the clothing mesh of theoutermost layer of clothing, the inner layer(s) clothing painted on tothe body of the avatar, and the visible shape of the body of the avatarforms a new model of the avatar with the multiple layers of clothing.The new model of the avatar wearing the multiple layers of clothing canbe rendered for presentation in a three-dimensional world to otheravatars.

A typical avatar in a three-dimensional virtual world has a position andorientation. A user device provides inputs to control the position andorientation of the avatar in the virtual world to simulate theexperience of traveling in the virtual world by presenting the virtualworld from the point of view of the position and orientation of theavatar. The virtual reality system (e.g., a server system and/or theclient program/viewer) renders a view of the virtual world based onposition and orientation of the avatar and presents the view of thevirtual world on the user device. The view of the virtual world includesother avatars in the field of view of the avatar, and other virtualobjects, such as virtual building, parks, theaters, streets, etc.

Within the view of the virtual world, the virtual reality system mayidentify a set of objects or avatars that may be of particular interestto the avatar. For examples, when an avatar speaks to a nearby listeningavatar, the listening avatar may become a point of interest for the gazeof the speaking avatar. For examples, when an avatar listens to a nearbyspeaking avatar, the speaking avatar may become a point of interest forthe gaze of the listening avatar. For examples, when an avatar speaks toa group of avatars, the avatars in the group may become potential pointsof interest for the gaze of the speaking avatar. A computer systemhosting the virtual world renders a view of the virtual world from thepoint of the gaze of the avatar and the present the view to the user ofthe avatar, as if the user of the avatar is viewing the virtual worldaccording to the gaze of the avatar.

FIG. 1 shows a computer system in which techniques of the presentdisclosure can be used.

In FIG. 1, a server system (103) has a data storage (105) storing athree dimensional world model (131) and avatar models (135). The virtualworld represented by the model (131) may or may not resemble a part ofthe real world on the Earth. Client devices (107, . . . , 109) can beused to access the virtual world via the server system (103). Forexample, the server system (103) may generate a view of the virtualworld and provide the view to a client device (109) for display. Forexample, the server system (103) may extract a portion of the worldmodel (131) and the avatar model (135) relevant for the display of theview for the client device (109); and the client device (109) constructsa view of the portion of the virtual world from the data extracted andprovided by the server system (103).

In FIG. 1, a user of the server system (103) has a user account (137)stored in the data storage (105). The user account (137) hostsinformation such as the identification of an avatar (141) of the user inthe virtual world, the location (143) and orientation (145) of theavatar (141) in the virtual world, preferences (147) of the user, suchas the personalization parameters of the avatar (141).

After a user of a client device (109) is authenticated for theauthorization to access the virtual world via the user account (137),the input devices (125) of the client device (109) provide user inputsto control the location (143) and orientation (145) of the avatar (141)of the user; and the server system (103) provides a data stream to theclient device (109) according to the location (143) and the orientation(145) of the avatar (141) such that the client device (109) presents, onthe output device (127), the view of the virtual world that is perceivedto be seen in the eyes of the avatar (141). The view of the virtualworld simulates the experience of a user in the virtual world at thelocation (143) and orientation (145) of the avatar (141); and thedisplay of the virtual world on the client device (109) corresponds tothe presentation of a video stream captured by a virtual camera at alocation (143) and orientation (145) of the avatar (141). Since the viewis in the eyes of the avatar (141), the view generally does not includethe avatar (141) itself and more specifically the eyes of the avatar(141). However, the avatar (141) itself and the eyes of the avatar (141)can be in the views of other avatars that are in the vicinity of theavatar (141).

Examples of the input devices (125) include a text input device (117)(such as a keyboard, a virtual keyboard implemented on a touch screen,text input implemented via speech recognition), a pointer control device(e.g., arrow keys of a keyboard, a mouse, a track ball, a touch pad, atouch screen, a joystick), a motion tracking device (e.g., motionsensors attached to a head-mount display, data glove, mobile phones,personal media player, mobile computing device, game controller), adigital camera (113), a microphone (111), etc.

Examples of the output devices (127) include a display (121) (e.g., acomputer monitor, a touch screen, a head-mount display, a virtualreality headset) and a speaker (123) (or earphone, headphone

In some instances, a client device (109) has an eye-tracking capability(e.g., via a head-mount camera (113) that capture video images of theeyes of the user, a front facing camera (113) of a smart phone, a tabletcomputer, a mobile device), which makes it possible to control the eyemovements of an avatar (141) and/or the field of view of the avatar(141) independent of the movement of the location (143) and orientation(141) of the avatar (141) as a whole.

In some instances, when the client device (109) does not have aneye-tracking capability, the system is configured to present eyemovements based on predictions, eye movement models, preferences (147),and other inputs from other devices (e.g., 117, 119). For example,predetermined patterns of eye movements are animated based onpredetermined models. Thus, the experiences of the user of the avatar(141) can be improved, as well as the experiences of other usersinteracting with the avatar (141) of the user in the virtual world.

The system of FIG. 1 can also be used for the presentation of augmentedreality, where virtual representations of users in the form of avatarsare projected into a view of a real world. The avatars may have the formof a human and/or be generated based on images of the users of theavatars so that the avatars resemble the users in real world.

FIG. 1 illustrates the use of a centralized server system (103) to hostthe virtual world represented by the world model (131). In otherimplementations, the virtual world may be hosted on a distributedcomputer network.

In FIG. 1, the system includes a cloth model (149) of a piece of virtualclothing. The cloth model (149) defines the shape and appearance of apiece of virtual clothing. For example, the shape of the clothing can bedefined by a clothing mesh in a three dimensional space; and theappearance can be defined by the texture of the elements of the clothingmesh. The cloth model (149) may be created by a system administrator oran end user and offered to other avatars.

In FIG. 1, the avatar model (135) defines the shape and appearance ofthe body of the avatar. For example, the shape of the avatar can bedefined by a body mesh in a three dimensional space; and textureproperties of the elements of the body mesh define the appearance of thebody surface of the avatar.

When a piece of virtual clothing defined by the cloth model (149) isapplied to the avatar model (135) to simulate the wearing of theclothing on the avatar (141) for the user account (137), the serversystem (103) generates the avatar (141) for the user account (137) thatcombines the cloth model (149) and the avatar model (135) and/or anyapplicable preferences (147).

To generate the avatar (141) wearing the clothing defined by the clothmodel (149), the server system (101) scales the piece of clothinguniformly according to the overall size of the avatar. The scaledclothing mesh may fit the body mesh in some areas, but not other areas.For example, in certain edges, the clothing mesh may be too big for thecorresponding body component of the avatar; in other edges, the clothingmesh may be too small. The server system (103) uses a mesh deformer(139) to stretch or shrink the edges for an improved fit (e.g., in areassuch as sleeves, collar, and/or bottom). The stretching or shrinking ofthe selected edges can cause stretching or shrinking in the vicinity ofthe edges; and the degree of stretching or shrinking reduces todiminishing deformation from the edges to other parts of the clothingthat are far away from the edges that are being stretched. In oneimplementation, the stretching or shrinking simulates the result ofapplying forces to stretch the selected areas/edges on the clothing madeof an elastic material. The stiffness or elasticity of the materialeffects how far the stretching force propagates into other areas tocause deformation in other parts of the clothing. Preferably, the meshdeformer (139) of the server system (103) selectively deforms theclothing according to the size of the body mesh at a few strategiclocations (e.g., corresponding to the location of the sleeves, collar,and/or bottom).

After the clothing is transformed by the mesh deformer (139), the serversystem (103) uses the cloth solver (129) to simulate the physicalwearing of the deformed clothing on the body of the avatar (141). To fitthe clothing on the avatar (141), the cloth solver (129) may furtherstretch portions of the clothing to fit the contour of certain portionsof the body that are too big for the clothing pre-transformed by themesh deformer. The cloth solver (129) computes the draping of theclothing in area where the contour of certain portions of the body maybe too small to fully support the clothing. Optionally, the cloth solver(129) may shrink the clothing at such areas where the body of the avataris too small. The simulation determines the combined shape of theclothing on the body of the avatar (141), which forms a new avatar modelthat wears the clothing.

Optionally, the server system (103) facilitates a user interface on theclient devices (107, . . . , 109) to allow the user to interactivelyadjust the deforming of the cloth model and/or the fitting simulation onthe cloth solver (129).

For example, the server system (103) may allow the user to select areas(e.g., sleeves, collar, and/or bottom) for stretching or shrinking bythe mesh deformer (139), the degree of stretching or shrinking, and thestiffness/elasticity of the clothing for the propagation of thestretching or shrinking applied at the selected locations.

For example, the server system (103) may allow the user to selectparameters for the fitting simulation by the cloth solver (129). Theuser may selectively identify areas for optional shrinking to removeexcessive draping. For example, the user may specify thestiffness/elasticity of the clothing for the propagation of thestretching or shrinking applied by the cloth solver (129).

FIG. 2 shows the fitting of a piece of clothing on an avatar accordingto one embodiment. For example, the fitting process of FIG. 2 can beimplemented in the computer system illustrated in FIG. 1.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cloth model (149) and an avatar model (135). Bycombining the cloth model (149) and the avatar model (135) using themesh deformer (139) and the cloth solver (129), the server system (103)generates an avatar (141) that wears the piece of clothing (159)according to the cloth model (149) and the avatar model (135).

In FIG. 2, the overall size of the cloth model (149) is uniformly scaledto fit the overall size of the avatar model (135). The mesh deformer(139) is used to deform the edge (153) prior to the cloth solver (129)simulating the wearing of the clothing defined by the scaled anddeformed cloth model on the avatar model (135). The simulation generatesthe resulting avatar (141) that wears the clothing (159), including thefeature of draping and/or folding in the certain areas (e.g., 155, 157)and stretching in other areas.

FIG. 3 illustrates a sequence of transformations to fit a piece ofclothing on an avatar in a virtual world. For example, the sequence oftransformation of FIG. 3 can be used to combine the cloth model (149)and the avatar model (135) to generate the avatar (141) that wears thepiece of clothing (159) illustrated in FIG. 2.

In FIG. 3, the cloth model (149) is uniformly scaled (171), according toan overall size of the avatar model (135), to generate a scaled model(161). The overall size of the avatar model (135) can be automaticallycomputed from the avatar model (135), or explicitly specified by theuser of the user account (137).

Optionally, an interactive user interface is provided to enable the userto customize the scaling (171). The user interface that shows the scaledmodel (161) in view of the avatar model (135) (e.g., by presenting thescaled model (161) and the avatar model (135) side by side) so that thescaling (171) is performed according to a size identify by the user andis scaled to the satisfaction of the user.

The server system (103) compares sizes of edges of the clothing (e.g.,163 and 155) with the sizes of corresponding body components of theavatar model (135) to select edges for stretching or shrinking by themesh deformer (139).

For example, when the edge (155) is too loose for fitting on the arm ofthe avatar model (135), the server system (103) may select the edge(155) for shrinking by the mesh deformer (139).

For example, when the edge (163) is too small for fitting on the torsoof the avatar model (135), the server system (103) may select the edge(163) for stretching by the mesh deformer (139).

In the example of FIG. 2, the mesh deformer (139) stretches (173) theedge (163) of the scaled cloth model (161) to generate the deformedcloth model (165) that has an enlarged edge (153). The stretchingtransits gradually from the edge (163/153) to the other portions of thepiece of clothing that are away from the edge (163/153).

In the example of FIG. 2, the edge (155) is not shrunk; and the clothsolver (129) computes the shape of draping of the clothing near the edge(155) during the physical simulation (175) of the deformed cloth model(165) on the avatar model (135) to generate the avatar (141) wearing theclothing (159).

In some instances, an interactive user interface is provided to allowthe user to customize the stretching and/or shrinking performed by themesh deformer (139). For example, the user interface allows the user toselect an edge for stretching or shrinking and specify the desired sizeof the stretching or shrinking. For example, the user interface mayallow the user to adjust the stiffness of the clothing mesh and/or thedistribution of the stiffness of the clothing mesh to adjust thetransition of the deformation from the selected edges (e.g., 163/153)into the interior areas of the clothing. The deformed model (165) andthe avatar model (135) can be presented side by side in the userinterface so that the user may visually inspect and determine when thedeformed model (165) is of satisfaction to the user.

In some instances, an interactive user interface is also provided toallow the user to customize the physical simulation of the fitting ofthe deformed cloth model (165) on the avatar (141). The cloth solver(129) may stretch certain portions of the clothing for fitting on theavatar (141) and/or optionally shrinking certain portions of theclothing to reduce folding or draping resulted from loose areas (e.g.,155). In some instances, a user may optionally identify areas forexpansion or shrinking; and the result of the fitting simulation can bepresented for interactive adjustment. The cloth solver (129) may stretchor shrink the user selected portions according to the stiffness of thecloth mesh specified for the mesh deformer (139) and/or stiffnessparameters specified by the user for the physical simulation (175)(e.g., using a paint tool that paints the stiffness values on theclothing in a way similar to colors being painted on the clothing).

FIG. 4 illustrates a method to presenting the fitting of multiple layersof virtual clothing on an avatar. For example, the method of FIG. 4 canbe used in combination with the transformations of FIG. 3 for thedetermination of a fitted version of a piece of clothing. However, it isnot necessary to use to the complete sequence of transformations of FIG.3 to generate a fitted version of a piece of clothing. For example, ascaled version (161) can be directly simulated for wearing on the avatar(141) without the use of the mesh deformer (139) for the stretching(173) or shrinking at selected edges of the clothing.

In FIG. 4, after the physical simulation of fitting of the clothing(159) on the avatar (141) is computed, the server system (103) computesthe collapsing (191) of the clothing (159) onto the avatar body (191)such that the collapsed clothing mesh (181) agrees with the body mesh ofthe avatar (141). As a result, showing the avatar (141) wearing thecollapsed clothing (181) can be simplified as painting the texture ofthe clothing (181) on the corresponding body surface of the avatar(141).

After the avatar (141) wearing the collapsed clothing (181) is computed,the server system (103) computes the adding (193) of another lay of theclothing according to the cloth model (185) using the sequence oftransformations as illustrated in FIG. 3 to generate the update avatar(141) wearing two layers of clothing. The outer layer (187) is generatedbased on the clothing model (185); and the inner layer (181) isgenerated based on a different clothing model (149). The simulation ofthe outer layer (181) may include the folding (e.g., 189), draping,stretching and/or shrinking of a deformed version of the model (185) forcustomized fitting on the avatar (141).

In one implementation, the server system (103) stores a clothing mesh(159) resulting from a physical simulation (175) and its collapsedversion (181) for each piece of clothing acquired for the avatar (157).When the user specifies the wearing of multiple layers of clothing onthe avatar, the server system (103) can rapidly compute the result bypainting the textures of the collapsed version (e.g., 181) of the innerlayers, according to the sequence of layers from inside to outside, ontothe body surface of the avatar (141) and then apply the clothing mesh(159 or 187) resulting from the physical simulation (175) performed bythe cloth solver (129) for the outer most layer to generate theresulting avatar model (141) that wears multiple layers of the clothing.

FIG. 5 shows a method to present clothing on an avatar. For example, themethod of FIG. 5 can be implemented in the computing system of FIG. 1using the transformation and/or fitting techniques of FIGS. 2-4.

In FIG. 5, a server system (103) is configured to: scale (221) a firstpiece of clothing (149) uniformly to match an overall size of an avatar(135); deform (223) a mesh shape of the scaled version (161) of thefirst piece of clothing (149) at one or more edges (e.g., 163) to matchthe body size of the avatar (135) corresponding to the edges (e.g.,163); perform (225) a physical simulation of the deformed version (165)of the first piece of clothing (149) being worn on the avatar (135) toidentify a shape (159) of the first piece of clothing (149) worn on theavatar (135); optionally (227) receive user input to adjust the physicalsimulation and determine the shape (159) of the first piece of clothing(149) worn on the avatar (135); collapse (229) the first piece ofclothing (e.g., having the shape (159)) onto the body surface of theavatar (135) to generate a collapsed version (181) of the first piece ofthe clothing (149); and compute (231) a shape (187) of a second piece ofclothing (185) on the avatar (135), layered on top of the collapsedversion (181) of the first piece of clothing (149) worn on the avatar(135). The server system (103) may include the mesh deformer (139)and/or the cloth solver (129) in some instances. In other instances, themesh deformer (139) and/or the cloth solver (129) are implemented onseparate servers that provide services to the server system (103) overcomputer network connections.

A computing system to implement a three-dimensional virtual realityworld may include: a server system (103); and a data storage device(105) storing: a three-dimensional model (131) of the virtual realityworld; avatar models (e.g., 135) representing residences of the virtualreality world; and cloth models (e.g., 149) defining the shapes andappearances of clothing that may be worn by avatars in the virtualworld.

For example, a method implemented in the three-dimensional virtualreality world to generate a presentation of an avatar wearing multiplelayers of clothing includes generating, for each generic cloth model(e.g., 149) acquired for an avatar model (135), 1) a fitted cloth model(159) particularly transformed for the avatar model (135) and 2) acollapsed cloth model (181) for the avatar model (135). The generationof the fitted cloth model (159) and the corresponding collapsed clothmodel (181), according to the generic cloth model (135), is performedindependently from the generation of corresponding fitted and collapsedcloth models for other pieces of clothing (e.g., 185).

For example, the fitted cloth model (159) can be generated from: scaling(171) uniformly the generic cloth model (149) to match an overall sizeof the avatar model (135) to generate a scaled cloth model (161); afteridentifying at least one edge (e.g., 163) of the scaled cloth model(161) that needs deformation for improved fitting, deforming (e.g.,stretching (173) or shrinking) the scaled cloth model (161) at the edge(e.g., 163) to change a size of the edge (e.g., 163) and generate adeformed cloth model (165); and performing a physical simulation (175)of fitting the deformed cloth model (165) on the avatar model (135) tocompute the fitted cloth model (159) as worn on the avatar (141)identified by the avatar model (135).

For example, the collapsed cloth model (181) can be generated byshrinking/collapsing (191) the fitted cloth model (159) onto the bodysurface of the avatar (141) to have a perfect tight fit so that thecollapsed cloth model (181) has the same shape of the portion of thebody surface of the avatar (141) on which the clothing of the collapsedcloth model (181) will be worn. Thus, the result of wearing the clothingaccording to the collapsed cloth model (181) can be computed efficientlyby applying the texture of the collapsed cloth model (181) onto thecorresponding body surface of the avatar (141).

For example, to generate an avatar model having the avatar (141) wearinga piece of clothing according to a first cloth model (149) inside apiece of clothing according to the second clothing (185), the serversystem (103) applies the textures of the collapsed cloth model (181),generated according to the first cloth model (149), onto the avatar(141) to generate the avatar (141) wearing the inner layer of clothingaccording to the collapsed cloth model (181) and then combines theavatar (141) wearing the inner layer with the fitted cloth model (187),generated according to the second cloth model (185), to generate theavatar (141) wearing the outer layer of clothing (185) over the innerlayer of clothing (149).

In general, the deforming of a scaled cloth model (161) to generate adeformed cloth model (165) may include stretching an edge (163) of thescaled first cloth model (161) to generate a corresponding expanded edge(153) of the deformed first cloth model (165) and/or shrinking an edgeof the scaled first cloth model to generate a corresponding reduced edgeof the deformed first cloth model.

Optionally, an interactive user interface is provided to receive userinput to customize the deforming of the scaled cloth method (161), suchas the identification of stiffness of at least a portion of the scaledfirst cloth model, the identification of an edge (163) for thedeforming, and the identification of a degree of the deforming (e.g.,the size of the corresponding expanded/reduced edge). The interactiveuser interface presents the deformed first cloth model in response tothe user input and/or shows the deformed first cloth model (165) and theavatar model (135) side by side for visual inspection by the user of theavatar (141).

Optionally, an interactive user interface is provided to receive userinput customizing the physical simulation (175). The physical simulation(175) computes the shape of draping (e.g., 157), folding (e.g., 189),stretching and shrinking of portions of the fitted cloth model (159)worn on the avatar (141).

Optionally, an interactive user interface is provided to present thescaling (171) in response to user input to customize the scaling (171).

Each of the client devices (107, . . . , 109), the server system (103),the cloth solver (129), and/or the mesh deformer (139) can beimplemented in the form of one or more data processing systemsillustrated in FIG. 6, with more or fewer components.

The present disclosure includes the methods discussed above, computingapparatuses configured to perform methods, and computer storage mediastoring instructions which when executed on the computing apparatusescauses the computing apparatuses to perform the methods.

FIG. 6 shows a data processing system on which the methods of thepresent disclosure can be implemented. While FIG. 6 illustrates variouscomponents of a computer system, it is not intended to represent anyparticular architecture or manner of interconnecting the components.Other systems that have fewer or more components than those shown inFIG. 6 can also be used.

In FIG. 6, the data processing system (200) includes an inter-connect(201) (e.g., bus and system core logic), which interconnects amicroprocessor(s) (203) and memory (211). The microprocessor (203) iscoupled to cache memory (209) in the example of FIG. 6.

In FIG. 6, the inter-connect (201) interconnects the microprocessor(s)(203) and the memory (211) together and also interconnects them toinput/output (I/O) device(s) (205) via I/O controller(s) (207). I/Odevices (205) may include a display device and/or peripheral devices,such as mice, keyboards, modems, network interfaces, printers, scanners,video cameras and other devices known in the art. When the dataprocessing system is a server system, some of the I/O devices (205),such as printers, scanners, mice, and/or keyboards, are optional.

The inter-connect (201) includes one or more buses connected to oneanother through various bridges, controllers and/or adapters. Forexample, the I/O controllers (207) include a USB (Universal Serial Bus)adapter for controlling USB peripherals, and/or an IEEE-1394 bus adapterfor controlling IEEE-1394 peripherals.

The memory (211) includes one or more of: ROM (Read Only Memory),volatile RAM (Random Access Memory), and non-volatile memory, such ashard drive, flash memory, etc.

Volatile RAM is typically implemented as dynamic RAM (DRAM) whichrequires power continually in order to refresh or maintain the data inthe memory. Non-volatile memory is typically a magnetic hard drive, amagnetic optical drive, an optical drive (e.g., a DVD RAM), or othertype of memory system which maintains data even after power is removedfrom the system. The non-volatile memory may also be a random accessmemory.

The non-volatile memory can be a local device coupled directly to therest of the components in the data processing system. A non-volatilememory that is remote from the system, such as a network storage devicecoupled to the data processing system through a network interface suchas a modem or Ethernet interface, can also be used.

In this description, some functions and operations are described asbeing performed by or caused by software code to simplify description.However, such expressions are also used to specify that the functionsresult from execution of the code/instructions by a processor, such as amicroprocessor.

Alternatively, or in combination, the functions and operations asdescribed here can be implemented using special purpose circuitry, withor without software instructions, such as using Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) or Field-Programmable Gate Array (FPGA).Embodiments can be implemented using hardwired circuitry withoutsoftware instructions, or in combination with software instructions.Thus, the techniques are limited neither to any specific combination ofhardware circuitry and software, nor to any particular source for theinstructions executed by the data processing system.

While one embodiment can be implemented in fully functioning computersand computer systems, various embodiments are capable of beingdistributed as a computing product in a variety of forms and are capableof being applied regardless of the particular type of machine orcomputer-readable media used to actually effect the distribution.

At least some aspects disclosed can be embodied, at least in part, insoftware. That is, the techniques may be carried out in a computersystem or other data processing system in response to its processor,such as a microprocessor, executing sequences of instructions containedin a memory, such as ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatile memory, cache or aremote storage device.

Routines executed to implement the embodiments may be implemented aspart of an operating system or a specific application, component,program, object, module or sequence of instructions referred to as“computer programs.” The computer programs typically include one or moreinstructions set at various times in various memory and storage devicesin a computer, and that, when read and executed by one or moreprocessors in a computer, cause the computer to perform operationsnecessary to execute elements involving the various aspects.

A machine readable medium can be used to store software and data whichwhen executed by a data processing system causes the system to performvarious methods. The executable software and data may be stored invarious places including for example ROM, volatile RAM, non-volatilememory and/or cache. Portions of this software and/or data may be storedin any one of these storage devices. Further, the data and instructionscan be obtained from centralized servers or peer to peer networks.Different portions of the data and instructions can be obtained fromdifferent centralized servers and/or peer to peer networks at differenttimes and in different communication sessions or in a same communicationsession. The data and instructions can be obtained in entirety prior tothe execution of the applications. Alternatively, portions of the dataand instructions can be obtained dynamically, just in time, when neededfor execution. Thus, it is not required that the data and instructionsbe on a machine readable medium in entirety at a particular instance oftime.

Examples of computer-readable media include but are not limited torecordable and non-recordable type media such as volatile andnon-volatile memory devices, read only memory (ROM), random accessmemory (RAM), flash memory devices, floppy and other removable disks,magnetic disk storage media, optical storage media (e.g., Compact DiskRead-Only Memory (CD ROM), Digital Versatile Disks (DVDs), etc.), amongothers. The computer-readable media may store the instructions.

The instructions may also be embodied in digital and analogcommunication links for electrical, optical, acoustical or other formsof propagated signals, such as carrier waves, infrared signals, digitalsignals, etc. However, propagated signals, such as carrier waves,infrared signals, digital signals, etc. are not tangible machinereadable medium and are not configured to store instructions.

In general, a machine readable medium includes any mechanism thatprovides (i.e., stores and/or transmits) information in a formaccessible by a machine (e.g., a computer, network device, personaldigital assistant, manufacturing tool, any device with a set of one ormore processors, etc.).

In various embodiments, hardwired circuitry may be used in combinationwith software instructions to implement the techniques. Thus, thetechniques are neither limited to any specific combination of hardwarecircuitry and software nor to any particular source for the instructionsexecuted by the data processing system.

Other Aspects

The description and drawings are illustrative and are not to beconstrued as limiting. The present disclosure is illustrative ofinventive features to enable a person skilled in the art to make and usethe techniques. Various features, as described herein, should be used incompliance with all current and future rules, laws and regulationsrelated to privacy, security, permission, consent, authorization, andothers. Numerous specific details are described to provide a thoroughunderstanding. However, in certain instances, well known or conventionaldetails are not described in order to avoid obscuring the description.References to one or an embodiment in the present disclosure are notnecessarily references to the same embodiment; and, such references meanat least one.

The use of headings herein is merely provided for ease of reference, andshall not be interpreted in any way to limit this disclosure or thefollowing claims.

Reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment” means that a particularfeature, structure, or characteristic described in connection with theembodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the disclosure. Theappearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in various places in thespecification are not necessarily all referring to the same embodiment,and are not necessarily all referring to separate or alternativeembodiments mutually exclusive of other embodiments. Moreover, variousfeatures are described which may be exhibited by one embodiment and notby others. Similarly, various requirements are described which may berequirements for one embodiment but not other embodiments. Unlessexcluded by explicit description and/or apparent incompatibility, anycombination of various features described in this description is alsoincluded here. For example, the features described above in connectionwith “in one embodiment” or “in some embodiments” can be all optionallyincluded in one implementation, except where the dependency of certainfeatures on other features, as apparent from the description, may limitthe options of excluding selected features from the implementation, andincompatibility of certain features with other features, as apparentfrom the description, may limit the options of including selectedfeatures together in the implementation.

The disclosures of the above discussed patent documents are herebyincorporated herein by reference.

In the foregoing specification, the disclosure has been described withreference to specific exemplary embodiments thereof. It will be evidentthat various modifications may be made thereto without departing fromthe broader spirit and scope as set forth in the following claims. Thespecification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in anillustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method implemented in a three-dimensionalvirtual reality world, the method comprising: receiving a first clothmodel and an avatar model; transforming the first cloth model into afitted first cloth model worn on an avatar having a body defined by theavatar model; receiving a second cloth model; transforming the secondcloth model into a fitted second cloth model worn on the avatar;collapsing the fitted first cloth model onto a body surface of theavatar to generate a collapsed cloth model; applying textures of thecollappsed cloth model on the body surface of the avatar to generate theavatar wearing an inner layer of clothing according to the first clothmodel; and combining the fitted second cloth model and the avatarwearing an inner layer of clothing to generate the avatar wearing anouter layer of clothing according to the second cloth model.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the transforming of the first cloth modelinto the fitted first cloth model includes: scaling uniformly the firstcloth model to match an overall size of the avatar model to generate ascaled first cloth model; identifying at least one edge of the scaledfirst cloth model; deforming the scaled first cloth model to change asize of the edge and generate a deformed first cloth model; andperforming a physical simulation of fitting the deformed first clothmodel on the avatar model to generate the fitted first cloth model wornon the avatar.
 3. The method of claim 2, wherein the deforming of thescaled first cloth model includes stretching the edge of the scaledfirst cloth model to generate a corresponding expanded edge of thedeformed first cloth model.
 4. The method of claim 2, wherein thedeforming of the scaled first cloth model includes shrinking the edge ofthe scaled first cloth model to generate a corresponding reduced edge ofthe deformed first cloth model.
 5. The method of claim 2, furthercomprising: receiving user input to customize the deforming.
 6. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the user input includes identification ofstiffness of at least a portion of the scaled first cloth model.
 7. Themethod of claim 5, wherein the user input includes identification of theedge for the deforming.
 8. The method of claim 5, wherein the user inputincludes identification of a degree of the deforming.
 9. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: providing an interactive user interface topresent the deformed first cloth model in response to the user input.10. The method of claim 2, further comprising: providing an userinterface to receive user input customizing the physical simulation. 11.The method of claim 10, wherein the physical simulation includescomputing of draping, folding, stretching and shrinking in portions ofthe fitted first cloth model worn on an avatar of the avatar model. 12.The method of claim 2, further comprising: providing an interactive userinterface to present the scaling in response to user input to customizethe scaling.
 13. A non-transitory computer storage medium storinginstructions configured to instruct a computer device to perform amethod implemented in a three-dimensional virtual reality world, themethod comprising: storing, for each generic cloth model in a pluralityof cloth models acquired for an avatar model: a respective fitted clothmodel; and a respective collapsed cloth model; and in response to a userrequest to apply the plurality of cloth models on the avatar modelsaccording to a sequence of layers of clothing from inside to outside,mapping textures of collapsed cloth models of inner layers of theplurality of cloth models on the avatar model according to the sequenceto generate an avatar model wearing the inner layers; and combining afitted cloth model generated from an outermost layer of the plurality ofcloth models on the avatar model and the avatar model wearing the innerlayers to generate an avatar model wearing the plurality of cloth modelsaccording to the sequence from inside to outside.
 14. The medium ofclaim 13, wherein the fitted cloth model is generated from the genericcloth model by: identifying at least one edge of the generic clothmodel; deforming the generic model to change a size of the edge relativeto a part of the generic cloth model and generate a deformed clothmodel; and performing a physical simulation of fitting the deformedcloth model on the avatar model to generate the fitted cloth model wornon the avatar.
 15. The medium of claim 14, wherein the collapsed clothmodel has a clothing mesh having a shape same as a part of a bodysurface of the avatar defined by the avatar model.
 16. The medium ofclaim 15, wherein the collapsed cloth model is generated by shrinkingthe fitted first cloth model onto the avatar model.
 17. A computingsystem to implement a three-dimensional virtual reality world, thesystem comprising: a server system; and a data storage device storing: athree-dimensional model of the virtual reality world; avatar modelsrepresenting residences of the virtual reality world; and cloth modelsdefining shapes and appearances of clothing; wherein for each of aplurality of cloth models acquired by a user for an avatar model, theserver system generates and stores: a respective fitted cloth modelbased on a physical simulation of fitting the respective fitted clothmodel on the avatar model; and a respective collapsed cloth model havinga shape that is the same as to a shape of at least a portion of theavatar on which the collapsed cloth model is to be worn; and wherein inresponse to a user request to apply the plurality of cloth models on theavatar models according to a sequence from inside to outside, the serversystem: maps textures of collapsed cloth models of inner layers of theplurality of cloth models on the avatar model according to the sequenceto generate an avatar model wearing the inner layers; and combines afitted cloth model generated from an outermost layer of the plurality ofcloth models on the avatar model and the avatar model wearing the innerlayers to generate an avatar model wearing the plurality of cloth modelsaccording to the sequence from inside to outside.
 18. The computingsystem of claim 17, wherein the respective collapsed cloth model isgenerated by collapsing the respective fitted cloth model onto a bodysurface of the avatar model.
 19. The computing system of claim 18,wherein the respective fitted cloth model is generated by deforming arespective cloth model at one or more edges before the physicalsimulation of fitting the respective fitted cloth model on the avatarmodel.
 20. The computing system of claim 19, wherein the deforming atthe one or more edges includes stretching or shrinking the one or moreedges.